# Frog Jump - Canonical: https://fitwill.app/exercise/10806/frog-jump/ - Media ID: 10806 - Primary muscle: Quads - Body part: Legs - Equipment: Body Weight - Video: https://fitwill.app/videos/10806/frog-jump.mp4 ## Description The Frog Jump is a bodyweight plyometric exercise that combines a deep, wide-stance squat with an explosive vertical jump. From a low crouch with your feet planted wide and your fingertips touching the floor between your legs, you drive up through the floor, extend fully into the air, and land softly back into the same deep position. The wide stance and low start position are what give the movement its frog-like look and set it apart from a standard squat jump. This exercise is a strong choice for anyone building lower-body power without equipment. Athletes use it to develop the kind of explosive hip and knee extension that carries over to sprinting, jumping, and changing direction, while general trainees use it as a time-efficient way to raise the heart rate and challenge the legs. Because it requires no gear and very little space, it fits easily into home workouts, warm-ups, and circuit training. The primary work comes from the quads, which extend the knees as you explode out of the deep crouch. The glutes and hamstrings drive the hips forward and upward, the inner thighs work hard to hold the wide-stance position and control the landing, and the calves finish each jump with a push from the ankles. Your core stays braced the entire time to keep the torso upright and transfer force smoothly from the ground through the body. Setup matters more than most people expect. A stance that is too narrow turns the movement into a regular jump squat and crowds the knees, while a stance that is too wide makes it hard to generate power or keep the feet flat. Aim for roughly one and a half shoulder widths, with toes turned out slightly and knees tracking over the feet. Sitting back between the legs, rather than letting the knees cave forward, protects the joints and loads the muscles properly. Execution should be crisp rather than rushed. Drop into the crouch with control, keep your chest up and weight through your midfoot and heels, then jump vertically with intent, reaching full extension at the hips and knees. Absorb the landing by bending the knees and hips together, settling right back into the frog position before the next rep. The exercise demands soft, quiet landings; crashing down into the bottom position is the fastest way to waste energy and stress the knees. Treat the Frog Jump as a quality movement, not a grinding one. Perform it fresh, early in a session, or as a power element in a circuit, and stop the set when your jumps lose height or your landings get loud. Beginners can reduce the depth of the crouch and focus on controlled hops first, building up to full-depth jumps as coordination and landing mechanics improve. ## Instructions 1. Stand with your feet roughly one and a half shoulder widths apart, toes turned out slightly, arms hanging at your sides. 2. Sit your hips back and down between your legs into a deep wide squat, letting your fingertips touch the floor between your feet for balance. 3. Keep your chest lifted, spine long, and knees pushed out in the same direction as your toes so they do not collapse inward. 4. Brace your core and shift your weight through your midfoot and heels, ready to push the floor away. 5. Drive explosively through your legs, extending your hips, knees, and ankles as you jump straight up, letting your arms swing down or slightly back for lift. 6. Reach full extension in the air with your legs together or nearly together, then prepare to land by hinging at the hips. 7. Land softly on your midfoot with knees bent and tracking over your toes, sinking right back into the wide frog position with your fingertips returning to the floor. 8. Exhale sharply on the jump, inhale briefly at the bottom of each rep, and stay braced through the landing. 9. Reset your foot position and posture at the bottom before each jump, and end the set once your height or landing control drops. ## Tips & Tricks - The most common fault is knees caving inward out of the deep crouch; cue your knees toward your pinky toes on both the jump and the landing. - Let your fingertips graze the floor at the bottom rather than slamming your palms down—hand contact is for balance and position, not for pushing off. - If your heels lift in the bottom position, narrow your stance a few inches or turn your toes out more until your whole foot stays planted. - Aim for quiet landings; a loud slap means you are stiff-legged or dropping too fast, so bend the hips and knees together to absorb force. - Do not rush the reset—take a beat in the crouch to set your posture, then jump with full intent instead of bouncing sloppily from rep to rep. - Swing your arms down and back as you load the crouch, then let them rise naturally to add height without over-twisting the torso. - Keep your back long rather than rounded over; hinge at the hips and keep the chest up so your spine stays neutral in the deep position. - Stop the set when jump height noticeably drops—this exercise trains power, and tired, low jumps teach poor landing mechanics. - On a hard floor, use a mat or training surface that gives slightly, and make sure you have overhead clearance for the full jump. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What muscles does the Frog Jump work? The quads do most of the work extending the knees out of the deep crouch, supported heavily by the glutes and hamstrings driving the hips up. The calves add the final ankle push, the inner thighs stabilize the wide stance, and the core braces throughout. ### How is the Frog Jump different from a regular squat jump? The Frog Jump starts from a much lower, wider position with the hips seated between the legs and the hands reaching toward the floor, while a squat jump starts from a standard shoulder-width squat. The wider stance places more demand on the inner thighs and forces a deeper hip drive. ### Is the Frog Jump suitable for beginners? Beginners can do it, but they should start with a shallower crouch and small controlled hops before jumping to full height from the deep position. Earning solid landing mechanics first matters more than rep count. ### Why do my knees ache when I do the Frog Jump? Knee discomfort usually comes from the knees caving inward out of the wide stance or from stiff, loud landings. Push your knees out over your toes at the bottom, absorb each landing by bending the hips and knees together, and reduce jump depth if it persists. ### How deep should the crouch be at the bottom of the Frog Jump? Sit until your hips are down between your legs with your thighs roughly parallel or slightly below, as long as you can keep your chest up, heels down, and knees tracking over your toes. Depth that forces your back to round or heels to lift is too deep for you right now. ### Can I do the Frog Jump every day? It is best treated as a high-intensity plyometric exercise, so two to three focused sessions per week with rest days in between works well for most people. Daily use is possible only with low volume and submaximal jumps, but recovery is what turns the work into adaptation. ### What can I use instead of the Frog Jump if jumping is not an option? A wide-stance bodyweight squat with a controlled tempo trains the same muscles without impact, and fast sumo squat-to-stand transitions add some of the explosive intent. Both keep the wide-stance pattern while sparing the joints. ### How many reps of the Frog Jump should I do? For power, work in sets of 5 to 8 crisp jumps with full recovery between sets, stopping when height drops. For conditioning circuits, short timed sets of 15 to 20 seconds work, but expect the quality of your landings to fall as fatigue builds. ### Should my feet stay wide in the air during the Frog Jump? No—the wide position belongs at the bottom. Let your feet come together or nearly together as you extend in the air, then open back to the wide stance to land, which keeps the jump smooth and reduces the risk of the knees twisting on contact.